Farewell Little Star...Hello Monk

Our little kitty, Star, died in October at the age of 23.  At that age, it was no surprise as she was becoming quite feeble...but we were in England at the time and felt bad to not be here.  I can never thank my friend, Ann, enough to be with Star so she did not die alone.  Now we have one cat, Nimbus, who has been the topic of a few posts on this blog.  She is 22, but in good health.


Star

I have decided not to get another pet after Nimbus dies...which will be the first time since I was two that I will have not pets.  I wonder if another kitty has different plans, though.

A couple of weeks after we returned from England I saw a grey and white cat sitting by the bird feeder.  Hmmmm....smart cat, I thought...but I really did not want to be party to luring prey for it by feeding the birds.  My solution, of course, feed the kitty.  I took a bowl of Nimbus's hard food (she had snubbed it and would not care) and set it by the garage.  The cat disappeared as soon as I opened the back door.  I kept watch to see if the cat would return...and of course, it came a couple of hours later and chowed down the food leaving an empty bowl.


Monk eating some food

Things seemed to be going along fine.  The birds would visit the feeders and bathe in the bird baths and fly into the trees when the cat appeared for her meal.  I decided this kitty was a female only because it seems most feral cats are and often brings litters of kittens with them.  My goal was to catch her, take her to the vet for shots and spaying, and then release her.  So far I have not been able to get near this kitty and I don't want to try to trap her when the weather is so cold.

When we began having below zero days, Ray made a place for her in the shed.  We also got a heated house for her and heated bird bath so there would be water for her (and the birds) during these cold days.

Heated house for Monk and the grackles



I put food inside the shed and house for her...but she prefers to just eat the food and return to wherever she has made her den...probably in the bunch of limbs and brush we have piled behind the garage.  The heated house has attracted the grackles though...they form a line to get in and eat the food.  It makes me smile to see them taking turns or crowding each other...just like kids lining up for recess.  The grackles also sit on the shed door, taking turns to eat the food in there too.



Monk drinking water from heated birdbath

 

 

Grackles getting into the heated house.

I don't know what I am going to do with Monk....oh yes, I named the kitty.  She has a grey patch right below her chin that is off center.  I liked the television show "Monk" where the main character was OCD and had great difficulties with things that were off center.  I thought, maybe this kitty would be good for him to work through his OCD.

 Of course, the kitty does not know her name...and she might even be a he...and she might even belong to a neighbor...but I don't think so...she has not trust for humans.  Maybe she will begin to trust me...but if not...I will be satisfied with watching her from my kitchen window.

Frank's Place

I did not get to write a post for my blog last.  I really thought I could do it, but ran out of time.

Ray and I were in Warsaw, Illinois.  We came to check on our family cottage "Frank's Place" and visit my cousin Ruth who lives in Keokuk, Iowa.  Ruth has written a few posts for this blog...telling about how my great grandparents immigrated here from Sweden.  Her mother, my Aunt Amanda, was with the family on their journey to start new lives in America.


Our cottage sits on the Illinois side overlooking the Mississippi River.  Warsaw is a really small town...1,600 population.  Hollywood could use Main Street as a time period location for a Prohibition Era movie.


Sidewalk in Warsaw, Illinois

Main Street, Warsaw, Illinois

  Ray says he could imagine John Dillinger or Bonnie and Clyde shooting their way out of the bank, jumping into black Fords and roaring off with their ill gotten gains.


Hill-Dodge Banking Company

So...any film producers or directors...if you are looking for a quiet town for a movie site...check out Warsaw, Illinois.



Farmer's Bank in Warsaw, Illinois










 
When we arrived on Monday we found some of the tiles in the kitchen hanging from the ceiling....water stained...oh no...a leak in the roof.  No one had stayed here for over a year, so we were prepared for some minor stuff...but not the roof!!!   (We did find a person who will be able to put on a new roof...just happens to live down the street and knew my Uncle Frank.)  There were also dead bugs in piles below the windows. Yuk!  Most of these were Japanese Beetles, box elder, flies, and wasps or mud daubers.  I was glad that I brought my Dyson vacuum as I was able to suck up all of the bugs Monday evening.

View of Mississippi River from Warsaw, Illinois

Most of Tuesday was spent cleaning the bathrooms, kitchen, cleaning out the refrigerator, and pulling vines that had crawled up the sides of the house, and a quick clean for the rest of the place.  The animals had a feast last night with so many stale crackers, old cheese and other food that I threw out.

So...that is my excuse for not posting anything in the blog last week.  I will put a few pictures of the area on here.  A red headed woodpecker was sitting on the clothes line post...but my picture was taken from inside through the screen...so it is not very good.

Woodpecker ready to fly.

There are lots of birds and other wild life that wander through the yard...and the feral cats have even made paths as they go from house to house....so its a great place for photography...and also star gazing.



Baltimore Oriole

 

I like "Frank's Place."  It belonged to my Uncle Frank and we have furnished it with a lot of family pictures, funiture built by my grandfather, and paintings done by my grandfather and Uncle Frank. 

Dining Room (Uncle Frank's picture on wall)

 


My Grandparents and Uncle Frank



Looking into Living Room from Dining Room (My Grandfather's old fishing pole on wall)



Part of Living Room

I wish it would get used more often, a house needs people in it to be alive or it becomes old and worn down...just like our bodies...if we don't keep in motion we get stiff.  

Feral Cat...and Its Path

For a few years a group of archaeologists would stay at the cottage while they were digging at a secret location...later announced to be Fort Johnson from the War of 1812...that was just a block from here.  But that is another story...so will stop and post some pictures of Warsaw and the cottage.